Supported Education

Supported education is the process of helping consumers of mental health services participate in an education program so they may receive the education and training they need to achieve their learning and recovery goals and become gainfully employed in the job or career of their choice. The Café TAC will provide technical assistance and resources on effective approaches to supported education programs such as coaching and accommodations and establish a national database of supported education programs including vocational rehabilitation.

CAFE TAC Video: Supported Education at the University of Utah is a video created to examine how supported education has been implemented at one university. By speaking with professionals, faculty and the students they serve, we were able to gain a sense of how a quality program creates a culture of responsiveness and empowerment to help students succeed.

What Does Supported Education Look Like? is a white paper that offers some real-world examples of Supported Education programs. It describes how supported education works as it is actually practiced on a few different campuses, and gives potential students an idea of what to look for, and what questions to ask when looking for the right supported ed program.

Supported Education (SEd): State of the Practice – http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/pib/vol13/iss9/1/ – This report from the Transitions Research and Training Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School provides a quick overview on current trends and challenges in nationwide efforts to implement supported education.

Outside-The-Box College Accommodations: Real Support for Real Students: Tools for School II – http://escholarship.umassmed.edu/pib/vol14/iss3/1/– This tool from Transitions RTC offers suggestions on accommodations that can be very helpful, but might not be the ones most people think of first.

Starting the Conversation: College and Your Mental Health – http://nami.org/collegeguide – To help put a thoughtful plan into place should a mental health condition arise, NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) and The Jed Foundation have created this guide to help start the conversation. It offers both parents and students the opportunity to learn more about mental health, including what the privacy laws are and how mental health information can be shared.

Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Higher Education Toolkit – https://cpr.bu.edu/store/curricula/higher-education-toolkit/ – The Higher Education Support Toolkit (HES) provides disability service staff and health care staff with a simple way to work with students who are experiencing limitations arising from their psychiatric disability. Sometimes it only takes a small change to make a dramatic difference in the ability of a student to be optimally engaged in college classes. By helping students to identify the ways in which they are being challenged, disability and support services staff can then direct students to campus resources and discuss strategies for the classroom that meet their particular needs. The HES Toolkit is free.

A Practical Guide for People with Disabilities Who Want to Go to College – http://www.tucollaborative.org/sdm_downloads/going-to-college-with-a-disability/ – This new publication provides a practical guide to help people with disabilities who want to return to college – to community colleges or career institutes, or for four-year degrees or graduate education. The publication provides an overview of the challenges and supports needed in four areas: finding the right school, locating supports at your school, managing your disability and your education, and using your new educational qualifications in the search for a better job. Among the issues reviewed: assessing your own interests and skills, funding your education, disclosing your disability, and locating supports and services to succeed at school. The guide can be used both by consumers to get a better sense of how to improve their educations and by rehabilitation and case management personnel to structure their discussions with motivated consumers. In addition, the guide provides references to a wealth of additional print publications and online resources that explore each topic in greater detail.

Supported Education with Dr. Karen Unger – http://supportededucation.com/services.html – Rehabilitation Through Education is a consulting firm founded in 1995 to develop and promote the concept of supported education. This website includes what supported education is, the Key Elements of Supported Education, Handbook On Supported Education: Providing Services For Student With Psychiatric Disabilities, and services available rehabilitation through education.

The Virginia Commonwealth University Supported Education Model: Effective Strategies and Supports for College, Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorders – http://www.rrtc.hawaii.edu/documents/products/phase2/pdf/019b(8)-H04.pdf – This paper addresses the nature of the problem, the implementation of the supported education model, and the innovative practices that were used in the Virginia Commonwealth University Supported Education Model.

Supported Education Strategies for People with Severe Mental Illness: A Review of Evidence Based Practice – http://www.psychosocial.com/IJPR_11/Supported_Ed_Strategies_Leonard.html – The article reviews extant literature related to the study of evidence based practice of the provision of supported education to the mentally ill and provides a chronological history of efforts from various institutions and mental health and educational facilities in North America.

The Michigan Supported Education Program – http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ps.51.11.1355 – Includes an abstract, introduction, program description, and the effectiveness of the program. The Michigan Supported Education Program began as a three-year research demonstration project in the mid-1990s. It was designed to serve adults with psychiatric disabilities in the Detroit metropolitan area who had a range of psychiatric diagnoses. After its evaluation was completed in 1997, the program was incorporated into the array of services offered by the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency through the Southwest Detroit Counseling and Development Center. It now serves 150 consumers each year.

Career Advancement Resources (CAR): Supported Education as a Career Development Strategy – American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation (For purchase) – http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a725292449 – Since its inception in 1997, under the statewide Supported Education and Employment (SEE) initiative, Career Advancement Resources (CAR) has provided services to 1077 individuals with psychiatric disabilities seeking to return to paid employment. This article describes the CAR program’s participants, including their demographics and their educational and vocational goals, and in so doing, provides an understanding of the “Choose-Get-Keep” model of Supported Education, which serves as the theoretical framework behind the SEE initiative.

Supported Education for People with Psychiatric Disabilities: A Practical Manual (For Purchase) – http://www.amazon.com/Supported-Education-People-Psychiatric-Disabilities/dp/0761823484 – This book provides practical guidance for the development and operation of supported education for people with psychiatric disabilities. It’s step-by-step program, planning inclusion of generic policies and procedures and descriptions of program management by coordinators who have psychiatric disabilities themselves, make the book particularly unique.

Supported Education for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities: Long-term Outcomes from an Experimental Study (Statistical Data Included) – http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55138468.html – The article discusses the appropriateness of supported education as a social work intervention.

Establishing Individualized Goals in a Supported Education Intervention: Program Influences on Goal-Setting and Attainment – http://www.sagepub.com/prsw/overviews/pdfs/Collins_%20Article.pdf – This study investigated goal-setting and attainment in the Michigan Supported Education Research Project, an intervention that provides support for adults with psychiatric disabilities to engage in post secondary education.

Supported Education Strategies for People with Severe Mental Illness: A Review of Evidence Based Practice – http://www.psychosocial.com/IJPR_11/Supported_Ed_Strategies_Leonard.html – The article reviews extant literature related to the study of evidence based practice of the provision of supported education to the mentally ill and provides a chronological history of efforts from various institutions and mental health and educational facilities in North America.

A Program of Supported Education for Adult Israeli Students With Schizophrenia –http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16268010 – This report describes a supported education program (SEP), a novel community-based program of rehabilitation for psychiatric patients, started in Israel in 1999.

Mental Health Resources for Students – www.learnpsychology.org/mental-health – From newfound freedom to the rigors of college-level coursework and everything in between, the pressure and stress of student life can take its toll. The following guide is designed to help college students identify, address and get help for mental health issues.

Suicide and Depression Guidebook – http://www.learnpsychology.org/suicide-depression-student-guidebook/ – This guide is dedicated to helping those who are suffering or have suffered from depression, suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts. It is also designed for concerned friends and family members who might be worried that someone they love will experience death by suicide. Finally, it is meant for students, so that they might spot the warning signs of suicide in others – or in themselves – and find the proper resources.

Addiction Resources for Students – http://www.learnpsychology.org/college-campus-addiction-resources/ – This guide aims to provide students with a firm foundation to reach out for the help they need, including plenty of facts about what really constitutes a substance use disorder, how they can find the proper resources to get back on a healthy track and expert advice on what to do if addiction becomes a looming prospect.

College Student Mental Health Resources – www.affordablecollegesonline.org/college-student-mental-health – This guide serves as a resource for college students who need (or think they might need) help. Leveraging the expertise of several mental health and counseling experts, this resource explores the various mental health concerns that today’s college students face and discusses where and how students can find help.